Method and apparatus for tracking three-dimensional movements of an object using a depth sensing camera

ABSTRACT

A controller ( 110 ) for controlling an execution of a game program by a processor for enabling an interactive game to be played by a user includes a body ( 111 ) having a section to be oriented towards a screen when a progress of a game provided via execution of the game apparatus is displayed upon the screen, and at least one photonically detectable (“PD”) element (e.g.  122, 124, 126 , and/or  128 ) assembled with the body, a position of the photonically detectable element within an image being recordable by an image capture device ( 112 ) when the section is oriented at least partly towards the screen, wherein positions of the PD element at different points in time are quantifiable to quantify movement of the body in space.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.12/262,044, filed Oct. 30, 2008, entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FORTRACKING THREE-DIMENSIONAL MOVEMENTS OF AN OBJECT USING A DEPTH SENSINGCAMERA,” which is a continuation of International Application No.PCT/US2007/067961, filed May 1, 2007, entitled “DETECTABLE AND TRACKABLEHAND-HELD CONTROLLER”, the entire disclosures of which are both herebyfully incorporated by reference herein in their entireties, and whichInternational Application No. PCT/US2007/067961 claims priority to thefollowing applications as follows:

International Application No. PCT/US2007/067961 is acontinuation-in-part (CIP) of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/382,251, filed May 8, 2006, entitled “HAND-HELD CONTROLLER HAVINGDETECTABLE ELEMENTS FOR TRACKING PURPOSES”, and InternationalApplication No. PCT/US2007/067961 is also a continuation-in-part (CIP)of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/382,043, filed May 7, 2006,entitled “DETECTABLE AND TRACKABLE HAND-HELD CONTROLLER,” the entiredisclosures of which are both hereby fully incorporated herein byreference in their entireties, and which each claim priority to thefollowing applications as follows:

U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 11/382,251 and 11/382,043 each claimthe benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/718,145,entitled “AUDIO, VIDEO, SIMULATION, AND USER INTERFACE PARADIGMS”, filedSep. 15, 2005, which is hereby incorporated by reference.

U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 11/382,251 and 11/382,043 are alsoeach a continuation in part (CIP) of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/207,677, entitled, “MAN-MACHINE INTERFACE USING A DEFORMABLE DEVICE”,filed on Jul. 27, 2002; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/650,409,entitled, “AUDIO INPUT SYSTEM”, filed on Aug. 27, 2003; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/663,236, entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FORADJUSTING A VIEW OF A SCENE BEING DISPLAYED ACCORDING TO TRACKED HEADMOTION”, filed on Sep. 15, 2003; U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/759,782, entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LIGHT INPUT DEVICE”,filed on Jan. 16, 2004; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/820,469,entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS TO DETECT AND REMOVE AUDIO DISTURBANCES”,filed on Apr. 7, 2004; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/301,673,entitled “METHOD FOR USING RELATIVE HEAD AND HAND POSITIONS TO ENABLE APOINTING INTERFACE VIA CAMERA TRACKING”, filed on Dec. 12, 2005, all ofwhich are hereby incorporated by reference.

U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 11/382,251 and 11/382,043 are alsoeach a continuation in part (CIP) of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/381,729, to Xiadong Mao, entitled ULTRA SMALL MICROPHONE ARRAY, filedon May 4, 2006, application Ser. No. 11/381,728, to Xiadong Mao,entitled ECHO AND NOISE CANCELLATION, filed on May 4, 2006, U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/381,725, to Xiadong Mao, entitled “METHODS ANDAPPARATUS FOR TARGETED SOUND DETECTION”, filed on May 4, 2006, U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/381,727, to Xiadong Mao, entitled “NOISEREMOVAL FOR ELECTRONIC DEVICE WITH FAR FIELD MICROPHONE ON CONSOLE”,filed on May 4, 2006, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/381,724, toXiadong Mao, entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR TARGETED SOUNDDETECTION AND CHARACTERIZATION”, filed on May 4, 2006, U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/381,721, to Xiadong Mao, entitled “SELECTIVESOUND SOURCE LISTENING IN CONJUNCTION WITH COMPUTER INTERACTIVEPROCESSING”, filed on May 4, 2006; all of which are hereby incorporatedby reference.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/382,251 is also a continuation inpart (CIP) of: co-pending application Ser. No. 11/418,988, to XiadongMao, entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR ADJUSTING A LISTENING AREAFOR CAPTURING SOUNDS”, filed on May 4, 2006; co-pending application Ser.No. 11/418,989, to Xiadong Mao, entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUSES FORCAPTURING AN AUDIO SIGNAL BASED ON VISUAL IMAGE”, filed on May 4, 2006;co-pending application Ser. No. 11/429,047, to Xiadong Mao, entitled“METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR CAPTURING AN AUDIO SIGNAL BASED ON ALOCATION OF THE SIGNAL”, filed on May 4, 2006; co-pending applicationSer. No. 11/429,133, to Richard Marks et al., entitled “SELECTIVE SOUNDSOURCE LISTENING IN CONJUNCTION WITH COMPUTER INTERACTIVE PROCESSING”,filed on May 4, 2006; and co-pending application Ser. No. 11/429,414, toRichard Marks et al., entitled “Computer Image and Audio Processing ofIntensity and Input Devices for Interfacing With A Computer Program”,filed on May 4, 2006, all of the entire disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/382,251 is also a continuation inpart (CIP) of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/382,031, entitled“MULTI-INPUT GAME CONTROL MIXER”, filed on May 6, 2006; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/382,032, entitled “SYSTEM FOR TRACKING USERMANIPULATIONS WITHIN AN ENVIRONMENT”, filed on May 6, 2006; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/382,033, entitled “SYSTEM, METHOD, AND APPARATUSFOR THREE-DIMENSIONAL INPUT CONTROL”, filed on May 6, 2006; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/382,035, entitled “INERTIALLY TRACKABLEHAND-HELD CONTROLLER”, filed on May 6, 2006; U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/382,036, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR APPLYING GEARINGEFFECTS TO VISUAL TRACKING”, filed on May 6, 2006; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/382,041, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FORAPPLYING GEARING EFFECTS TO INERTIAL TRACKING”, filed on May 7, 2006;U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/382,038, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEMFOR APPLYING GEARING EFFECTS TO ACOUSTICAL TRACKING”, filed on May 6,2006; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/382,040, entitled “METHOD ANDSYSTEM FOR APPLYING GEARING EFFECTS TO MULTI-CHANNEL MIXED INPUT”, filedon May 7, 2006; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/382,034, entitled“SCHEME FOR DETECTING AND TRACKING USER MANIPULATION OF A GAMECONTROLLER BODY”, filed on May 6, 2006; U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/382,037, entitled “SCHEME FOR TRANSLATING MOVEMENTS OF A HAND-HELDCONTROLLER INTO INPUTS FOR A SYSTEM”, filed on May 6, 2006; U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/382,043, entitled “DETECTABLE AND TRACKABLEHAND-HELD CONTROLLER”, filed on May 7, 2006; U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/382,039, entitled “METHOD FOR MAPPING MOVEMENTS OF AHAND-HELD CONTROLLER TO GAME COMMANDS”, filed on May 7, 2006; U.S.Design patent application Ser. No. 29/259,349, entitled “CONTROLLER WITHINFRARED PORT”, filed on May 6, 2006; U.S. Design patent applicationSer. No. 29/259,350, entitled “CONTROLLER WITH TRACKING SENSORS”, filedon May 6, 2006; and U.S. Design patent application Ser. No. 29/259,348,entitled “TRACKED CONTROLLER DEVICE”, filed on May 6, 2006; all of whichare hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/382,251 also claims the benefit ofU.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/798,031, entitled “DYNAMICTARGET INTERFACE”, filed on May 6, 2006, which is hereby incorporated byreference.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is also related to co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/430,594, to Gary Zalewski and Riley R. Russell, entitled“Profile Detection”, filed on May 8, 2006, the entire disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference.

This application is also related to co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/430,593, to Gary Zalewski and Riley R. Russell, entitled“Using Audio/Visual Environment To Select Ads On Game Platform”, filedon May 8, 2006, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference.

This application is also related to co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/400,997, filed on Apr. 10, 2006, to Larsen and Chen,entitled “System And Method For Obtaining User Information From Voices”,the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

This application is also related to co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/382,259, to Gary Zalewski et al., entitled “Method andapparatus for use in determining lack of user activity in relation to asystem”, filed on May 8, 2006, the entire disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference.

This application is also related to co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/382,258, to Gary Zalewski et al., entitled “Method andapparatus for use in determining an activity level of a user in relationto a system”, filed on May 8, 2006, the entire disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference.

This application is also related to co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/382,252, entitled “TRACKING DEVICE FOR USE IN OBTAININGINFORMATION FOR CONTROLLING GAME PROGRAM EXECUTION”, filed on May 8,2006, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference.

This application is also related to co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/382,256, entitled “TRACKING DEVICE WITH SOUND EMITTER FORUSE IN OBTAINING INFORMATION FOR CONTROLLING GAME PROGRAM EXECUTION”,filed on May 8, 2006, the entire disclosure of which is incorporatedherein by reference.

This application is also related to co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/382,250, entitled “OBTAINING INPUT FOR CONTROLLING EXECUTIONOF A GAME PROGRAM”, filed on May 8, 2006, the entire disclosure of whichis incorporated herein by reference.

This application is also related to co-pending U.S. Design patentapplication Ser. No. 29/246,744, entitled “VIDEO GAME CONTROLLER FRONTFACE”, filed on May 8, 2006, the entire disclosure of which isincorporated herein by reference.

This application is also related to co-pending U.S. Design patentapplication Ser. No. 29/246,743, entitled “VIDEO GAME CONTROLLER”, filedon May 8, 2006, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference.

This application is also related to co-pending U.S. Design patentapplication Ser. No. 29/246,767, entitled “VIDEO GAME CONTROLLER”, filedon May 8, 2006, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference.

This application is also related to co-pending U.S. Design patentapplication Ser. No. 29/246,768, entitled “VIDEO GAME CONTROLLER”, filedon May 8, 2006, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein byreference.

This application is also related to co-pending U.S. Design patentapplication Ser. No. 29/246,763, entitled “ERGONOMIC GAME CONTROLLERDEVICE WITH LEDS AND OPTICAL PORTS”, filed on May 8, 2006, the entiredisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

This application is also related to co-pending U.S. Design patentapplication Ser. No. 29/246,759, entitled “GAME CONTROLLER DEVICE WITHLEDS AND OPTICAL PORTS”, filed on May 8, 2006, the entire disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference.

This application is also related to co-pending U.S. Design patentapplication Ser. No. 29/246,765, entitled “DESIGN FOR OPTICAL GAMECONTROLLER INTERFACE”, filed on May 8, 2006, the entire disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference.

This application is also related to co-pending U.S. Design patentapplication Ser. No. 29/246,766, entitled “DUAL GRIP GAME CONTROL DEVICEWITH LEDS AND OPTICAL PORTS”, filed on May 8, 2006, the entiredisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

This application is also related to co-pending U.S. Design patentapplication Ser. No. 29/246,764, entitled “GAME INTERFACE DEVICE WITHLEDS AND OPTICAL PORTS”, filed on May 8, 2006, the entire disclosure ofwhich is incorporated herein by reference.

This application is also related to co-pending U.S. Design patentapplication Ser. No. 29/246,762, entitled “ERGONOMIC GAME INTERFACEDEVICE WITH LEDS AND OPTICAL PORTS”, filed on May 8, 2006, the entiredisclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

This application is also related to co-pending U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 11/382,699, filed on May 10, 2006, entitled “ATTACHABLESTRUCTURE FOR USE WITH HAND-HELD CONTROLLER HAVING TRACKING ABILITY”,the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to computer entertainmentsystems, and more specifically to a user's manipulation of a controllerfor such computer entertainment systems.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

Computer entertainment systems typically include a hand-held controller,game controller, or other controller. A user or player uses thecontroller to send commands or other instructions to the entertainmentsystem to control a video game or other simulation being played. Forexample, the controller may be provided with a manipulator which isoperated by the user, such as a joy stick. The manipulated variable ofthe joy stick is converted from an analog value into a digital value,which is sent to the game machine main frame. The controller may also beprovided with buttons that can be operated by the user.

It is with respect to these and other background information factorsthat the present invention has evolved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One embodiment provides a method for use in obtaining input for anapplication, comprising: establishing communications with an imagecapture device that is capable of providing output data that includesdepth measurements; using the image capture device to capture images ofan object as the object moves in a three-dimensional manner; receivingthe output data provided by the image capture device as the imagecapture device captures images of the object; and analyzing the outputdata provided by the image capture device to detect and track thethree-dimensional movements of the object.

Another embodiment provides a computer program product comprising amedium for embodying a computer program for input to a computer and acomputer program embodied in the medium for causing the computer toperform steps comprising: establishing communications with an imagecapture device that is capable of providing output data that includesdepth measurements; using the image capture device to capture images ofan object as the object moves in a three-dimensional manner; receivingthe output data provided by the image capture device as the imagecapture device captures images of the object; and analyzing the outputdata provided by the image capture device to detect and track thethree-dimensional movements of the object.

Another embodiment provides an apparatus, comprising: an image capturedevice that is capable of providing output data that includes depthmeasurements; and a processing system that is communicatively coupled tothe image capture device, wherein the processing system is configured toexecute steps comprising using the image capture device to captureimages of an object as the object moves in a three-dimensional manner,receiving the output data provided by the image capture device as theimage capture device captures images of the object, and analyzing theoutput data provided by the image capture device to detect and track thethree-dimensional movements of the object.

Another embodiment provides a controller, comprising: a body; one ormore buttons disposed on the body; and one or more detectable elementsdisposed on the body that are arranged in a pattern.

Another embodiment provides a method of making a controller, comprisingthe steps of: forming a body; disposing one or more buttons on the body;and attaching one or more detectable elements to the body, wherein theone or more detectable elements are arranged in a pattern.

Another embodiment provides a game controller, comprising: a body havinga forward section to be oriented towards a screen when a progress of agame controlled in accordance with the game controller is displayed uponthe screen; at least one input device assembled with the body, the inputdevice manipulable by a user to register an input from the user; and atleast one photonically detectable (“PD”) element assembled with thebody, a position of the photonically detectable element within an imagebeing recordable by an image capture device when the forward section isoriented at least generally towards the screen, wherein positions of thePD element at different points in time are quantifiable at quantifymovement of the body in space.

Another embodiment provides a game controller, comprising: a body havinga forward section to be oriented towards a screen when a progress of agame controlled in accordance with the game controller is displayed uponthe screen; at least one input device assembled with the body, the inputdevice manipulable by a user to register an input from the user; asignal encoder; and an infrared signal transmitter operable to transmitan infrared signal over the air using a signal generated by the signalencoder, the signal encoder being programmable to encode the signal witha selected one of a plurality of signaling codes for reception by anelectronic device having an infrared receiver and a signal decoderoperable with the selected one signaling code.

Another embodiment provides a tracking device for use in obtaininginformation for controlling an execution of a game program by aprocessor for enabling an interactive game to be played by a user. Thetracking device comprises a body having a section to be oriented towardsa screen when a progress of a game provided via execution of the gameapparatus is displayed upon the screen; and at least one photonicallydetectable (“PD”) element assembled with the body, a position of thephotonically detectable element within an image being recordable by animage capture device when the section is oriented at least partlytowards the screen, wherein positions of the PD element at differentpoints in time are quantifiable to quantify movement of the body inspace.

Another embodiment provides a method for use in obtaining information,comprising the steps of: receiving on an image plane of a camera aprojection of a geometric shape established on a controller; analyzingmovements and deformities in the projection of the geometric shape; anddetermining position information for the controller based on theanalysis of the movements and deformities in the projection of thegeometric shape.

Another embodiment provides a system for use in obtaining information,comprising: a controller having a geometric shape established thereon; acamera configured to receive on an image plane of the camera aprojection of the geometric shape established on the controller; and animage analyzer configured to analyze movements and deformities in theprojection of the geometric shape and to determine position informationfor the controller based on the analysis of the movements anddeformities in the projection of the geometric shape.

Another embodiment provides a system for use in obtaining information,comprising: means for receiving on an image plane of a camera aprojection of a geometric shape established on a controller; means foranalyzing movements and deformities in the projection of the geometricshape; and means for determining position information for the controllerbased on the analysis of the movements and deformities in the projectionof the geometric shape.

Another embodiment provides a computer program product comprising amedium for embodying a computer program for input to a computer and acomputer program embodied in the medium for causing the computer toperform steps of: receiving on an image plane of a camera a projectionof a geometric shape established on a controller; analyzing movementsand deformities in the projection of the geometric shape; anddetermining position information for the controller based on theanalysis of the movements and deformities in the projection of thegeometric shape.

A better understanding of the features and advantages of variousembodiments of the present invention will be obtained by reference tothe following detailed description and accompanying drawings which setforth an illustrative embodiment in which principles of embodiments ofthe invention are utilized.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features and advantages of embodiments ofthe present invention will be more apparent from the following moreparticular description thereof, presented in conjunction with thefollowing drawings wherein:

FIG. 1A is a pictorial diagram illustrating a system that operates inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1B is a perspective view of a controller made in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1C is a perspective view of a controller made in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1D is a perspective view of a controller made in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 1E is a perspective view of a controller made in accordance withsome embodiments of the present invention;

FIG. 2A is a pictorial diagram illustrating a manner for determiningposition information for a controller in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention;

FIG. 2B is a planar view of an image plane illustrating a manner fordetermining position information for a controller in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3A is a flow diagram illustrating a method for use in obtaininginformation in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3B is a flow diagram illustrating a method for use in providinginput to a system in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a system that may be used to run,implement and/or execute the methods and techniques shown and describedherein in accordance with embodiments of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a processor that may be used torun, implement and/or execute the methods and techniques shown anddescribed herein in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The user or player of a video game typically holds the game controllerwith one or both hands in order to operate the buttons, joy stick, etc.,located on the controller. Often times while playing the game the userwill also move the entire controller itself around in the air as he orshe simultaneously operates the buttons, joy stick, etc. Some users tendto get excited while playing the game and attempt to control actions oraspects of the game by moving the entire controller itself around in theair.

Various embodiments of the methods, apparatus, schemes and systemsdescribed herein provide for the detection, capture and tracking of themovements, motions and/or manipulations of the entire controller bodyitself by the user. The detected movements, motions and/or manipulationsof the entire controller body by the user may be used as additionalcommands to control various aspects of the game or other simulationbeing played.

Detecting and tracking a user's manipulations of a game controller bodymay be implemented in different ways. For example, in some embodiments acamera peripheral can be used with the computer entertainment system todetect motions of the hand-held controller body and transfer them intoactions in a game. The camera can be used to detect many different typesof motions of the controller, such as for example up and down movements,twisting movements, side to side movements, jerking movements, wand-likemotions, plunging motions, etc. Such motions may correspond to variouscommands such that the motions are transferred into actions in a game.

Detecting and tracking the user's manipulations of a game controllerbody can be used to implement many different types of games,simulations, etc., that allow the user to, for example, engage in asword or lightsaber fight, use a wand to trace the shape of items,engage in many different types of sporting events, engage in on-screenfights or other encounters, etc.

Referring to FIG. 1A, there is illustrated a system 100 that operates inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated,a computer entertainment system or console 102 uses a television orother video display 104 to display the images of the video game or othersimulation thereon. The game or other simulation may be stored on a DVD,CD, flash memory, USB memory, or other memory media 106 that is insertedinto the console 102. A user or player 108 manipulates a game controller110 to control the video game or other simulation.

A camera or other video image capturing device 112 is positioned so thatthe controller 110 is within the camera's field of view 114. Asillustrated, the camera 110 may be placed on the video display 104, butit should be well understood that the camera may be located elsewhere.By way of example, the camera 112 may comprise a camera peripheraldevice such as the commercially available EyeToy™ product. But it shouldbe well understood that any type or brand of camera may be used, such asfor example a web-cam camera, add-on USB camera, infrared (IR)capability camera, fast frame capture rate camera, etc.

In some embodiments, the camera or other image capturing device 112, aswell as the image capture unit discussed below, may comprise a Z-cameraor depth camera. Such a Z-camera or depth camera may, for example,provide or measure a depth of each pixel and/or determine the distanceof a pixel from the camera. As such, any of the cameras or other imagecapturing devices described herein may, in some embodiments, compriseany type of three-dimensional camera.

During operation, the user 108 physically moves the controller 110itself. That is, the user 108 physically moves the entire controller 110around in the air. For example, the controller 110 may be moved in anydirection by the user 108, such as up, down, to one side, to the otherside, twisted, rolled, shaken, jerked, plunged, etc. These movements ofthe controller 110 itself may be detected and captured by the camera 112by way of tracking through image analysis in a manner described below.

In general, the detected and captured movements of the controller 110are used to generate position and orientation data for the controller110. Because this data is gathered on an image frame-by-frame basis, thedata can be used to calculate many physical aspects of the movement ofthe controller 110, such as for example its acceleration and velocityalong any axis, its tilt, pitch, yaw, roll, as well as any telemetrypoints of the controller 110.

The ability to detect and track the movements of the controller 110makes it possible to determine whether any predefined movements of thecontroller 110 are performed. That is, certain movement patterns orgestures of the controller 110 may be predefined and used as inputcommands for the game or other simulation. For example, a plungingdownward gesture of the controller 110 may be defined as one command, atwisting gesture of the controller 110 may be defined as anothercommand, a shaking gesture of the controller 110 may be defined asanother command, and so on. In this way the manner in which the user 108physically moves the controller 110 itself is used as another input forcontrolling the game, which provides a more stimulating and entertainingexperience for the user. Examples of how movements of the controller 110can be mapped to input commands for the game will be discussed below.

Referring to FIG. 1B, there is illustrated a more detailed view of thecontroller 110 that is made in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention. The controller 110 includes a body 111. The body 111is the part of the game controller 110 that one would hold by hand (orwear if it were a wearable game controller). An input device manipulableby a user is something such as, for example, a button or multi-axiscontrol stick on the controller. One or more buttons may be disposed onthe body 111. The body may include a housing holdable by hand. Thehousing may include a handgrip graspable by hand. Thus, during operationwhen the user 108 physically moves the controller 110 itself, the user108 physically moves the body 111 of the controller 110. The user movesthe body 111 around in the air, or in free-space.

The body 111 may have a forward section to be oriented towards a screenwhen a progress of a game controlled in accordance with the gamecontroller is displayed upon the screen. At least one input device maybe assembled with the body 111 with the input device manipulable by auser to register an input from the user.

One or more light-emitting diodes (LEDs) may be disposed on the bodythat are arranged in a geometric shape. Or, another type of photonicallydetectable (“PD”) element may be assembled with the body 111. A positionof the photonically detectable element may be within an image beingrecorded by an image capture device when the forward section is orientedat least generally towards the screen. The positions of the PD elementat different points in time may be quantifiable at quantify movement ofthe body 111 in space.

In this embodiment, the controller 110 includes four light-emittingdiodes (LEDs) 122, 124, 126, 128. As illustrated, the four LEDs 122,124, 126, 128 may be arranged in a substantially square or rectangularpattern and located on the bridge of the controller 110 between the R1and L1 buttons. Thus, in this embodiment the geometric shape comprises asubstantially square or rectangular pattern. The square or rectangularpattern formed by the four LEDs 122, 124, 126, 128 will be referred toherein as the “bounding box” formed by the LEDs.

It should be well understood that the geometric shape may comprise manydifferent shapes. For example, the geometric shape may comprise anylinear or two-dimensional pattern. Although a linear array of LEDs ispreferred, the LEDs may alternatively, be arranged in a rectangularpattern or an arcuate pattern to facilitate determination of an imageplane of the LED array when analyzing an image of the LED patternobtained by an image capture camera.

While the illustrated embodiment of the controller utilizes four LEDs,it should be well understood that other embodiments may utilize morethan four LEDs or less than four LEDs. For example, three LEDs willwork, and two LEDs will also work to provide tracking information. Evenone LED can provide position information. Furthermore, the LEDs may belocated on a different part of the controller 110.

The LEDs may be positioned or disposed on the controller 110 in avariety of ways, including in a cluster, a line, a triangle, and/orother such configurations. One LED may be used or multiple LEDs can beused. In the case of multiple LEDs, in one configuration, the plane thatis formed that intersects the LEDs may be tilted with respect to theorientation of the controller. The actual orientation of the controllermay be determined by performing a transformation of data received in theimage plane to determine the controller orientation. Additionally oralternatively, the LEDs can be removable, attachable and/or detachable.For example, the LEDs can be included on a plate or separate casing thatis detachable from the body 111.

Referring to FIG. 1C, there is illustrated a view of the controller 110that is made in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.The controller 110 includes the body 111 and a cluster or array of LEDs122, 124, 126 and 128. As illustrated, the four LEDs 122, 124, 126, 128may be arranged in a substantially linear pattern and located on thebridge of the controller 110 between the R1 and L1 buttons. Thus, inthis embodiment the geometric shape comprises a substantially linearpattern. Further in some embodiments, one or more of the LEDs can beimplemented through infrared LEDs. For example, infrared LEDs can bepaired with the visible LEDs. The visible LEDs can, for example, show aplayer ID. In some implementations, the LEDs may be surface mounted,with the infrared LEDs peeking through small windows that allow bothvisible LED and infrared LED transmission.

Referring to FIG. 1D, there is illustrated a view of the controller 110that is made in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.The controller 110 includes the body 111 and a communications interfaceand/or port 132. The interface, in some embodiments, allows thecontroller to couple directly with a tracking device and/or the console102. The tracking devices at least in part can allow for the detectionof movement of the controller 110, by optical, audio and/or inertia. Theinterface 132 can be substantially any relevant communication interface,such as a universal serial bus (USB) interface, universal asynchronousreceiver transmitter (UART), and/or other such relevant interface. Theinterface 132 can be positioned on the controller 110 in substantiallyany position. As illustrated, the interface 132 may be located on thebridge of the controller 110 between the R1 and L1 buttons.

Referring to FIG. 1E, there is depicted a perspective view of thecontroller 110 that is made in accordance with some embodiments of thepresent invention. The controller includes the body 111, the R1 and L1buttons, the one or more LEDs 122, 124, 126 and 128, the interface 132(e.g., a USB interface), and other relevant buttons, indicators and thelike. The LEDs 122, 124, 126 and 128 are shown in the linear pattern,however, other patterns can be employed as described above and furtherbelow. Additionally in some implementations, the LEDs and/or interface132 can be removable, attachable and/or detachable.

The four LEDs 122, 124, 126, 128 produce four points or dots that areperceived by camera 112 (FIG. 1A). Because the camera 112 is looking atthe player 108 with the controller 110 in his hands, the camera 112 isable to track the movement of the controller 110 by tracking themovement of the dots produced by the four LEDs 122, 124, 126, 128 andthe bounding box that they form.

Namely, as the user 108 twists and rotates the controller body 110 theprojection of the four dots are cast on the image plane of the camera112's outputs. Image analysis is used to track the user's manipulationsof the controller and to determine controller position and orientation.Thus, the four LEDs 122, 124, 126, 128 produce information regarding thebody's movement. The positions of one or two controllers can bedetermined, or the relative movements of two controllers can be tracked.

FIG. 2A illustrates an example of how the bounding box is used to trackthe movements of the controller. Specifically, the controller, and thusthe four LEDs 122, 124, 126, 128, are located within the field of view114 of the camera 112. The four LEDs 122, 124, 126, 128 form a boundingbox 202 when the controller is in a first position. When the controlleris moved to a second position the four LEDs 122, 124, 126, 128 form asecond bounding box 204. In addition, when the controller is moved fromthe first to the second position, the intermediate positions of thebounding boxes are also captured, depending on the speed of the movementand the frame rate of the camera 112.

The bounding boxes 202 and 204 formed by the four LEDs 122, 124, 126,128 are captured in the image plane of the camera 112. FIG. 2Billustrates an example of the image plane 220 of the camera 112 showingthe bounding boxes 202 and 204. A physics analysis is performed toderive and determine the movements of the bounding box and how therectangle of the bounding box deforms into different shapes based on thetilt, yaw, etc. of the controller. By projecting the bounding boxes onthe image plane, the position, orientation, acceleration, velocity,etc., of the controller can be determined, which can in turn be used totrack the user's manipulations of the game controller.

Referring to FIG. 3A, there is illustrated a method 300 for use inobtaining information from a controller in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention. The method 300 may be executed and performedby many different types of systems and devices, such as for exampleentertainment systems and consoles, computers, consumer electronicsdevice, etc. An example of a system that may be used to perform themethod 300 will be described below.

The method 300 begins in step 302 in which a projection of a geometricshape established on the controller is received on an image plane of acamera. This step may be performed as has already been described above.

In step 304 the movements and deformities in the projection of thegeometric shape are analyzed. Namely, the four dots of the bounding boxare tracked and analyzed. Field and frame analysis is performed on theimage plane of the camera output to analyze the manipulation of the fourreference points to determine position orientation, tilt, yaw, roll,etc. of the controller. In addition, acceleration of the controller canbe tracked in any direction. Analysis of the frames of the image cangive the acceleration along any axis. Telemetry points of the controllercan also be computed. It can also be determined whether or not thecontroller is in a resting position or resting state, such as forexample when the controller is in a neutral or steady state near theuser's waist.

As the controller rolls the image translates in the plane. Changes inthe width of the rectangle of the bounding box indicate the controlleris rolling. As the yaw of the controller is adjusted, the width of therectangle changes. Yaw maps to the width of the rectangle. Tilt of thecontroller influences the height of the rectangle.

For example, the bounding box 202 (FIG. 2B) indicates that thecontroller was initially positioned looking fairly straight ahead at thecamera. The bounding box 204 indicates that the controller was thenmoved downward, rolled and turned to the user's left.

It is difficult to know which side of the “ground plane” the controlleris positioned on because the image plane only sees a deformed rectangle.For example, this issue can occur if someone walks in front of andoccludes the camera during a time when the user manipulates thecontroller and moves the controller to an equal distance on the otherside of an axis horizon line. This may cause the bounding box to lookthe same in the image plane. This can also happen if the controllertravels outside of the viewing region of the image capture device.

As such, a determination may need to be made as to whether thedeformation is caused by positive or negative tilt or roll (positive andnegative being related to up/down and left/right movements away from thesteady state origin position). This can be solved by reading othertelemetry from the controller or by strobing or modulating the LEDs toenable the video analyzer system to discriminate individual corners ofthe bounding box rectangle for tracking purposes. The LEDs may bestrobed or modulated as an aid for discerning the different corners ofthe bounding box. Or, each LED may have its own frequency as an aid fordiscerning the different corners of the bounding box. By identifyingeach specific corner of a bounding region, i.e. each LED, it can bedetermined which side of a horizontal line the controller is on at anypoint in time. In this way problems associated with the controllerpassing through the camera plane can be handled.

Tracking the movements and rotations of the bounding box on the screenis based on a frame-by-frame analysis. The camera's output creates theframes of image data. The projection of the bounding box is captured insoftware. The movements of the controller across the frames is based onthe translation of the box.

The use of a high frame rate provides the ability to accurately trackacceleration and changes in acceleration of the movement of thecontroller. That is, by projecting the image on the plane at high rates,the delta movements of the controller can be tracked. This provides theability to plot the acceleration, the points where the accelerationpeaks out, the points where gravity zeros out, and the points ofinflection. The points of inflection are the transition points where thecontroller stops and changes direction. All of this analysis isperformed by analyzing the frames of the image and determining theposition and deformation of the bounding box. By way of example, framerates of 120 frames per second or higher may be used, but it should wellunderstood that any frame rate may be used.

As will be discussed below, the history of previous frames may bemapped. This allows the previous telemetry of the controller to belooked at for determining certain parameters such as, for example, intracking acceleration, velocity, and stopping points.

In step 306 (FIG. 3A) position information for the controller isdetermined based on the analysis of the movements and deformities in theprojection of the geometric shape. By way of example, an image analyzermay be used to perform one or both of steps 304 and 306. Namely, animage analyzer may be used to perform the analysis of the movements anddeformations of the bounding boxes in the image plane of the camera. Theoutput of the video camera may be coupled to the input of an imageanalyzer. An example of a system which may incorporate an image analyzerfor implementing one or more of the methods, schemes and functionsdescribed herein will be discussed below.

The image analyzer monitors the bounding box formed by the referenceLEDs as captured in the image plane of the camera. The image analyzeranalyzes the position, rotation, horizontal and vertical deformation ofthe bounding box to determine the physical user manipulation of thecontroller, its position, roll, tilt and yaw coordinates. At the end ofthe image analysis the data may be output in the form of an output ID orthe like. Such output IDs from the image analysis may include data suchas the x, y, z coordinates, acceleration and velocity along any axis,that the controller is in a resting position or state, etc. Thus, at theend of image analysis the image analyzer can indicate where thecontroller is and whether a command is issued. And the image analyzermay be pinged at any instant of time and it may provide position,orientation, last command, etc.

By way of example, the image analyzer may provide, but shall not belimited to providing the following outputs:

CONTROLLER POSITION (X, Y, Z coordinates);

CONTROLLER ORIENTATION alpha, beta, gamma (radians);

CONTROLLER X-AXIS VELOCITY;

CONTROLLER Y-AXIS VELOCITY;

CONTROLLER Z-AXIS VELOCITY;

CONTROLLER X-AXIS ACCELERATION;

CONTROLLER Y-AXIS ACCELERATION;

CONTROLLER Z-AXIS ACCELERATION;

RESTING POSITION OF STEADY STATE Y/N (at waist as described, but may bedefined as any position);

TIME SINCE LAST STEADY STATE;

LAST GESTURE RECOGNIZED;

TIME LAST GESTURE RECOGNIZED; and

INTERRUPT ZERO-ACCELERATION POINT REACHED.

Each of these outputs may be generated by analyzing the movements anddeformations of the bounding box as described above. These outputs maybe further processed in order to track the movement of the controller.Such tracking will allow certain movements of the controller to berecognized, which can then be used to trigger certain commands asdescribed below. It should be well understood that many other outputsmay be used in addition to or in replacement of the above-listedoutputs.

Additional inputs to the image analyzer may optionally be provided. Suchoptional inputs may include but shall not be limited the following:

SET NOISE LEVEL (X, Y or Z AXIS) (this is a reference tolerance whenanalyzing jitter of hands in the game);

SET SAMPLING RATE (how often frames of the camera are being taken in andanalyzed);

SET GEARING; and

SET MAPPING CHAIN.

As mentioned above, the ability to detect and track the movements of thecontroller 110 makes it possible to determine whether any predefinedmovements of the controller 110 are performed. That is, certain movementpatterns or gestures of the controller 110 may be mapped to inputcommands for the game or other simulation.

Referring to FIG. 3B, there is illustrated a method 320 for use inproviding input to a system in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention. The method 320 begins in step 322 in which positioninformation for a controller for the system is determined. This step maybe performed using the methods and techniques described above.

In step 324, the determined position information for the controller iscompared with predetermined position information associated withcommands. That is, any number of different movements, gestures ormanipulations of the controller may be mapped to various commands. Thisallows different movements, gestures or manipulations of the controllerto be mapped into game models. For example, moving the controller up maybe mapped to one command, moving the controller down may be mapped toanother command, and moving the controller in any other direction may bemapped to other commands.

Similarly, shaking the controller once may be mapped to one command,shaking the controller twice may be mapped to another command, andsimilarly, shaking the controller three, four, five, etc., times may bemapped to other commands. That is, various gestures may be establishedbased on shaking the controller a certain number of times. Still othergestures may be established based on shaking the controller up and downvigorously a certain number of times. Other movements of the controllersuch as twisting, rolling, etc., may be mapped to still other commands.

Thus, various different trajectories of the game controller may bemapped onto gestures, which trigger commands in the game. Each commandis mapped to a predetermined movement of the controller. Suchpredetermined movements of the controller will have associatedpredetermined position information. In this embodiment the determinedposition information for the controller is compared with thepredetermined position information to see if a command should betriggered.

By way of example, such mapping of gestures to game commands may beimplemented as follows. The outputs of the image analyzer may be used todetermine position and orientation information for the controller. Theimage analyzer may output various different IDs that are indicative ofposition and orientation of the controller. For example, one ID may beoutput for a steady state determination, another ID may be output toindicate shaking of the controller, and various other IDs may be outputto indicate other orientations. Thus, the use of such IDs may be used tooutput whether the controller is in steady state or is moving. If thecontroller is in steady state, an ID may indicate how long thecontroller has been in steady state.

The determined position and orientation information for the controllermay then be compared with predetermined position information associatedwith input commands for the game. If the determined position informationmatches the predetermined position information for a command, then thecommand is provided to the entertainment system. Again, various gesturessuch as pushing the controller up or down, twisting in a circle, rightor left, twisting while pulling it up or down, rolling right or left,etc., may all be mapped to various commands.

When a new command or gesture is recognized the image analyzer maytrigger an interrupt. The triggering of such an interrupt may be used aspart of the process of providing the command to the entertainmentsystem. The system may optionally be configured so that zeroacceleration points in the axes, stop points, and/or other events alsotrigger interrupts.

In comparing the determined position and orientation information withthe predetermined position information associated with input commands tosee if there is a match, it may often be the case that there is not anexact match. This is because with movement of the controller infree-space it may be difficult to precisely recreate a predefinedmovement. Therefore, the predetermined position information associatedwith input commands may be defined in terms of ranges, tolerances,and/or thresholds that are considered to be close enough to thepredetermined position information such as to activate the command. Thatis, commands may be defined in terms of the thresholds or ranges. Thus,in determining whether or not any commands or gestures have beenidentified, the system may check to see if the determined position andorientation information falls within a range of a gesture. Thus, thedefined commands may have thresholds that can be looked at indetermining whether or not to invoke the command.

Furthermore, in comparing the determined position and orientationinformation with the predetermined position information associated withinput commands to see if there is a match, histories of previous framesmay be saved or mapped. For example, the frame buffer may be monitoredor the system may otherwise keep running records of the history of theprevious frames. The previous frames may be looked at to determine ifany commands are met. The mapping of frame histories may allow thetelemetry of the controller at a specific time to be determined toprovide the position orientation in determining if a command is met.

Finally, in step 326 if the determined position information for thecontroller matches predetermined position information for a command, thecommand is provided to the system. Such command may be used to cause anevent to occur or not occur in a video game or other simulation.

In other embodiments, the movements of a game controller may mapped togame commands, such as for example in video game. With such a method,which may be used in video games or other simulations, positioninformation for a controller that is being manipulated by a user isreceived. The position information is analyzed to determine whether apredetermined movement of the controller associated with a command hasbeen performed. This analysis may be performed as described above. Ifthe predetermined movement of the controller associated with a commandhas been performed, then the command is executed by the game. Theexecution of the command may cause a visual effect or the like to occuron the video display that the game is being displayed on.

While the discussion herein is directed to the use of LEDs on thecontroller for a game or other entertainment system, it should be wellunderstood that the teachings provided herein may be applied to detectand track the movements of controllers for other types of systems,devices, consumer electronics, etc. That is, the LEDs of the gamecontroller described above can be used to perform remote controlfunctions for consumer electronics devises or any device. LEDs may beused on the controllers for many other types of systems and devices inorder to detect and track the controllers so that such movements may bemapped to commands for those systems and device. Examples of such othertypes of systems and devices may include, but are not limited to,televisions, stereos, telephones, computers, home or office networks,hand-held computing or communication device, etc.

Furthermore, the teachings described herein may be applied to universalremote controls that have the ability to control several or manydifferent devices. That is, such universal remote controls may includeLEDs as described herein such that movements of the universal remotecontrol body may be used as input commands for several or many differentdevices or systems.

Moreover, a game controller may have a universal remote function. Forexample, such may comprise a body having a forward section to beoriented towards a screen when a progress of a game controlled inaccordance with the game controller is displayed upon the screen. Atleast one input device may be assembled with the body with the inputdevice manipulable by a user to register an input from the user. Asignal encoder may be included. An infrared signal transmitter operableto transmit an infrared signal over the air using a signal generated bythe signal encoder may be included. The signal encoder may beprogrammable to encode the signal with a selected one of a plurality ofsignaling codes for reception by an electronic device having an infraredreceiver and a signal decoder operable with the selected one signalingcode.

Moreover, battery operated toys (including toys molded into a form andstyle of a branded game) can be formed having LEDs and form a trackeduser manipulated body in the sensed environment.

In some embodiments the image analyzer can recognize a user or processaudio authenticated gestures, etc. A user may be identified by ananalyzer in the system through a gesture and a gesture may be specificto a user. Gestures may be recorded by users and stored in models. Therecordation process may optionally store audio generated duringrecordation of a gesture. The sensed environment may be sampled into amulti-channel analyzer and processed. The processor may referencegesture models to determine and authenticate user identity or objectsbased on voice or acoustic patterns and to a high degree of accuracy andperformance.

According to embodiments of the present invention, the methods andtechniques described herein may be implemented as part of a signalprocessing apparatus 400, as depicted in FIG. 4. The apparatus 400 mayinclude a processor 401 and a memory 402 (e.g., RAM, DRAM, ROM, and thelike). In addition, the signal processing apparatus 400 may havemultiple processors 401 if parallel processing is to be implemented. Thememory 402 may include data and code configured as described above.

Specifically, the memory 402 may include signal data 406. The memory 402may also contain calibration data 408, e.g., data representing one ormore inverse eigenmatrices C⁻¹ for one or more correspondingpre-calibrated listening zones obtained from calibration of a microphonearray 422. By way of example the memory 402 may contain eignematricesfor eighteen 20 degree sectors that encompass a microphone array 422.

The apparatus 400 may also include well-known support functions 410,such as input/output (I/O) elements 411, power supplies (P/S) 412, aclock (CLK) 413 and cache 414. The apparatus 400 may optionally includea mass storage device 415 such as a disk drive, CD-ROM drive, tapedrive, or the like to store programs and/or data. The controller mayalso optionally include a display unit 416 and user interface unit 418to facilitate interaction between the controller 400 and a user. Thedisplay unit 416 may be in the form of a cathode ray tube (CRT) or flatpanel screen that displays text, numerals, graphical symbols or images.The user interface 418 may include a keyboard, mouse, joystick, lightpen or other device. In addition, the user interface 418 may include amicrophone, video camera or other signal transducing device to providefor direct capture of a signal to be analyzed. The processor 401, memory402 and other components of the system 400 may exchange signals (e.g.,code instructions and data) with each other via a system bus 420 asshown in FIG. 4.

The microphone array 422 may be coupled to the apparatus 400 through theI/O functions 411. The microphone array may include between about 2 andabout 8 microphones, preferably about 4 microphones with neighboringmicrophones separated by a distance of less than about 4 centimeters,preferably between about 1 centimeter and about 2 centimeters.Preferably, the microphones in the array 422 are omni-directionalmicrophones. An optional image capture unit 423 (e.g., a digital camera)may be coupled to the apparatus 400 through the I/O functions 411. Oneor more pointing actuators 425 that are mechanically coupled to thecamera may exchange signals with the processor 401 via the I/O functions411.

As mentioned above, in some embodiments, the optional image capture unit423, as well as any of the cameras described herein, may comprise anytype of camera or sensor capable of detecting light emitting elements.For example, in some embodiments the optional image capture unit 423 maycomprise a Z-camera or depth camera or some other type ofthree-dimensional camera. Such a Z-camera or depth camera may, forexample, provide or measure a depth of each pixel and/or determine thedistance of a pixel from the camera.

As used herein, the term I/O generally refers to any program, operationor device that transfers data to or from the system 400 and to or from aperipheral device. Every data transfer may be regarded as an output fromone device and an input into another. Peripheral devices includeinput-only devices, such as keyboards and mouses, output-only devices,such as printers as well as devices such as a writable CD-ROM that canact as both an input and an output device. The term “peripheral device”includes external devices, such as a mouse, keyboard, printer, monitor,microphone, game controller, camera, external Zip drive or scanner aswell as internal devices, such as a CD-ROM drive, CD-R drive or internalmodem or other peripheral such as a flash memory reader/writer, harddrive.

In certain embodiments of the invention, the apparatus 400 may be avideo game unit, which may include a joystick controller 430 coupled tothe processor via the I/O functions 411 either through wires (e.g., aUSB cable) or wirelessly. The joystick controller 430 may have analogjoystick controls 431 and conventional buttons 433 that provide controlsignals commonly used during playing of video games. Such video gamesmay be implemented as processor readable data and/or instructions whichmay be stored in the memory 402 or other processor readable medium suchas one associated with the mass storage device 415.

The joystick controls 431 may generally be configured so that moving acontrol stick left or right signals movement along the X axis, andmoving it forward (up) or back (down) signals movement along the Y axis.In joysticks that are configured for three-dimensional movement,twisting the stick left (counter-clockwise) or right (clockwise) maysignal movement along the Z axis. These three axis—X Y and Z—are oftenreferred to as roll, pitch, and yaw, respectively, particularly inrelation to an aircraft.

In addition to conventional features, the joystick controller 430 mayinclude one or more inertial sensors 432, which may provide positionand/or orientation information to the processor 401 via an inertialsignal. Orientation information may include angular information such asa tilt, roll or yaw of the joystick controller 430. By way of example,the inertial sensors 432 may include any number and/or combination ofaccelerometers, gyroscopes or tilt sensors. In a preferred embodiment,the inertial sensors 432 include tilt sensors adapted to senseorientation of the joystick controller with respect to tilt and rollaxes, a first accelerometer adapted to sense acceleration along a yawaxis and a second accelerometer adapted to sense angular accelerationwith respect to the yaw axis. An accelerometer may be implemented, e.g.,as a MEMS device including a mass mounted by one or more springs withsensors for sensing displacement of the mass relative to one or moredirections. Signals from the sensors that are dependent on thedisplacement of the mass may be used to determine an acceleration of thejoystick controller 430. Such techniques may be implemented by programcode instructions 404 which may be stored in the memory 402 and executedby the processor 401.

By way of example an accelerometer suitable as the inertial sensor 432may be a simple mass elastically coupled at three or four points to aframe, e.g., by springs. Pitch and roll axes lie in a plane thatintersects the frame, which is mounted to the joystick controller 430.As the frame (and the joystick controller 430) rotates about pitch androll axes the mass will displace under the influence of gravity and thesprings will elongate or compress in a way that depends on the angle ofpitch and/or roll. The displacement and of the mass can be sensed andconverted to a signal that is dependent on the amount of pitch and/orroll. Angular acceleration about the yaw axis or linear accelerationalong the yaw axis may also produce characteristic patterns ofcompression and/or elongation of the springs or motion of the mass thatcan be sensed and converted to signals that are dependent on the amountof angular or linear acceleration. Such an accelerometer device canmeasure tilt, roll angular acceleration about the yaw axis and linearacceleration along the yaw axis by tracking movement of the mass orcompression and expansion forces of the springs. There are a number ofdifferent ways to track the position of the mass and/or or the forcesexerted on it, including resistive strain gauge material, photonicsensors, magnetic sensors, hall-effect devices, piezoelectric devices,capacitive sensors, and the like.

In addition, the joystick controller 430 may include one or more lightsources 434, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs). The light sources 434may be used to distinguish one controller from the other. For exampleone or more LEDs can accomplish this by flashing or holding an LEDpattern code. By way of example, 5 LEDs can be provided on the joystickcontroller 430 in a linear or two-dimensional pattern. Although a lineararray of LEDs is preferred, the LEDs may alternatively, be arranged in arectangular pattern or an arcuate pattern to facilitate determination ofan image plane of the LED array when analyzing an image of the LEDpattern obtained by the image capture unit 423. Furthermore, the LEDpattern codes may also be used to determine the positioning of thejoystick controller 430 during game play. For instance, the LEDs canassist in identifying tilt, yaw and roll of the controllers. Thisdetection pattern can assist in providing a better user/feel in games,such as aircraft flying games, etc. The image capture unit 423 maycapture images containing the joystick controller 430 and light sources434. Analysis of such images can determine the location and/ororientation of the joystick controller. Such analysis may be implementedby program code instructions 404 stored in the memory 402 and executedby the processor 401. To facilitate capture of images of the lightsources 434 by the image capture unit 423, the light sources 434 may beplaced on two or more different sides of the joystick controller 430,e.g., on the front and on the back (as shown in phantom). Such placementallows the image capture unit 423 to obtain images of the light sources434 for different orientations of the joystick controller 430 dependingon how the joystick controller 430 is held by a user.

In addition the light sources 434 may provide telemetry signals to theprocessor 401, e.g., in pulse code, amplitude modulation or frequencymodulation format. Such telemetry signals may indicate which joystickbuttons are being pressed and/or how hard such buttons are beingpressed. Telemetry signals may be encoded into the optical signal, e.g.,by pulse coding, pulse width modulation, frequency modulation or lightintensity (amplitude) modulation. The processor 401 may decode thetelemetry signal from the optical signal and execute a game command inresponse to the decoded telemetry signal. Telemetry signals may bedecoded from analysis of images of the joystick controller 430 obtainedby the image capture unit 423. Alternatively, the apparatus 401 mayinclude a separate optical sensor dedicated to receiving telemetrysignals from the lights sources 434. The use of LEDs in conjunction withdetermining an intensity amount in interfacing with a computer programis described, e.g., in commonly-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/429,414, to Richard L. Marks et al., entitled “USE OF COMPUTER IMAGEAND AUDIO PROCESSING IN DETERMINING AN INTENSITY AMOUNT WHEN INTERFACINGWITH A COMPUTER PROGRAM”, which is incorporated herein by reference inits entirety. In addition, analysis of images containing the lightsources 434 may be used for both telemetry and determining the positionand/or orientation of the joystick controller 430. Such techniques maybe implemented by program code instructions 404 which may be stored inthe memory 402 and executed by the processor 401.

The processor 401 may use the inertial signals from the inertial sensor432 in conjunction with optical signals from light sources 434 detectedby the image capture unit 423 and/or sound source location andcharacterization information from acoustic signals detected by themicrophone array 422 to deduce information on the location and/ororientation of the joystick controller 430 and/or its user. For example,“acoustic radar” sound source location and characterization may be usedin conjunction with the microphone array 422 to track a moving voicewhile motion of the joystick controller is independently tracked(through the inertial sensor 432 and or light sources 434). Any numberof different combinations of different modes of providing controlsignals to the processor 401 may be used in conjunction with embodimentsof the present invention. Such techniques may be implemented by programcode instructions 404 which may be stored in the memory 402 and executedby the processor 401.

Signals from the inertial sensor 432 may provide part of a trackinginformation input and signals generated from the image capture unit 423from tracking the one or more light sources 434 may provide another partof the tracking information input. By way of example, and withoutlimitation, such “mixed mode” signals may be used in a football typevideo game in which a Quarterback pitches the ball to the right after ahead fake head movement to the left. Specifically, a game player holdingthe controller 430 may turn his head to the left and make a sound whilemaking a pitch movement swinging the controller out to the right like itwas the football. The microphone array 420 in conjunction with “acousticradar” program code can track the user's voice. The image capture unit423 can track the motion of the user's head or track other commands thatdo not require sound or use of the controller. The sensor 432 may trackthe motion of the joystick controller (representing the football). Theimage capture unit 423 may also track the light sources 434 on thecontroller 430. The user may release of the “ball” upon reaching acertain amount and/or direction of acceleration of the joystickcontroller 430 or upon a key command triggered by pressing a button onthe joystick controller 430.

In certain embodiments of the present invention, an inertial signal,e.g., from an accelerometer or gyroscope may be used to determine alocation of the joystick controller 430. Specifically, an accelerationsignal from an accelerometer may be integrated once with respect to timeto determine a change in velocity and the velocity may be integratedwith respect to time to determine a change in position. If values of theinitial position and velocity at some time are known then the absoluteposition may be determined using these values and the changes invelocity and position. Although position determination using an inertialsensor may be made more quickly than using the image capture unit 423and light sources 434 the inertial sensor 432 may be subject to a typeof error known as “drift” in which errors that accumulate over time canlead to a discrepancy D between the position of the joystick 430calculated from the inertial signal (shown in phantom) and the actualposition of the joystick controller 430. Embodiments of the presentinvention allow a number of ways to deal with such errors.

For example, the drift may be cancelled out manually by re-setting theinitial position of the joystick controller 430 to be equal to thecurrent calculated position. A user may use one or more of the buttonson the joystick controller 430 to trigger a command to re-set theinitial position. Alternatively, image-based drift may be implemented byre-setting the current position to a position determined from an imageobtained from the image capture unit 423 as a reference. Suchimage-based drift compensation may be implemented manually, e.g., whenthe user triggers one or more of the buttons on the joystick controller430. Alternatively, image-based drift compensation may be implementedautomatically, e.g., at regular intervals of time or in response to gameplay. Such techniques may be implemented by program code instructions404 which may be stored in the memory 402 and executed by the processor401.

In certain embodiments it may be desirable to compensate for spuriousdata in the inertial sensor signal. For example the signal from theinertial sensor 432 may be oversampled and a sliding average may becomputed from the oversampled signal to remove spurious data from theinertial sensor signal. In some situations it may be desirable tooversample the signal and reject a high and/or low value from somesubset of data points and compute the sliding average from the remainingdata points. Furthermore, other data sampling and manipulationtechniques may be used to adjust the signal from the inertial sensor toremove or reduce the significance of spurious data. The choice oftechnique may depend on the nature of the signal, computations to beperformed with the signal, the nature of game play or some combinationof two or more of these. Such techniques may be implemented by programcode instructions 404 which may be stored in the memory 402 and executedby the processor 401.

The processor 401 may perform digital signal processing on signal data406 in response to the data 406 and program code instructions of aprogram 404 stored and retrieved by the memory 402 and executed by theprocessor module 401. Code portions of the program 404 may conform toany one of a number of different programming languages such as Assembly,C++, JAVA or a number of other languages. The processor module 401 formsa general-purpose computer that becomes a specific purpose computer whenexecuting programs such as the program code 404. Although the programcode 404 is described herein as being implemented in software andexecuted upon a general purpose computer, those skilled in the art willrealize that the method of task management could alternatively beimplemented using hardware such as an application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC) or other hardware circuitry. As such, it should beunderstood that embodiments of the invention can be implemented, inwhole or in part, in software, hardware or some combination of both.

In one embodiment, among others, the program code 404 may include a setof processor readable instructions that implement any one or more of themethods and techniques described herein or some combination of two ormore of such methods and techniques. For example, the program code 404may be configured to implement the image analyzer function describedherein. Or alternatively, the image analyzer function described hereinmay be implemented in hardware.

In the illustrated embodiment the image analyzer function describedabove is illustrated as the image analyzer 450. The image analyzer 450may receive its input from a camera, such as for example the imagecapture unit 423 or the camera 112 (FIG. 1A). Thus, the output of thevideo camera 112 or the image capture unit 423 may be coupled to theinput of the image analyzer 450. The output of the image analyzer 450may be provided to the system of the apparatus 400. This way, eithercommands themselves or information needed to see if a command or gesturehas been recognized is provided to the apparatus 400. The image analyzer450 may be coupled to the rest of the apparatus 400 in many differentways; as such, the illustrated connections are just one example. Asanother example, the image analyzer 450 may be coupled to the system bus420, which will allow it to receive its input data from the imagecapture unit 423 and provide its output to the apparatus 400.

The image analyzer 450 may optionally be included in the apparatus 400or the entertainment system or console 102, or the image analyzer 450may be located separately from these devices and systems. And again, itshould be well understood that the image analyzer 450 may beimplemented, in whole or in part, in software, hardware or somecombination of both. In the scenario where the image analyzer 450 isimplemented in software, then the block 450 represents the imageanalyzer function implemented in software.

The program code 404 may generally include one or more instructions thatdirect the one or more processors to select a pre-calibrated listeningzone at runtime and filter out sounds originating from sources outsidethe pre-calibrated listening zone. The pre-calibrated listening zonesmay include a listening zone that corresponds to a volume of focus orfield of view of the image capture unit 423.

The program code may include one or more instructions which, whenexecuted, cause the apparatus 400 to select a pre-calibrated listeningsector that contains a source of sound. Such instructions may cause theapparatus to determine whether a source of sound lies within an initialsector or on a particular side of the initial sector. If the source ofsound does not lie within the default sector, the instructions may, whenexecuted, select a different sector on the particular side of thedefault sector. The different sector may be characterized by anattenuation of the input signals that is closest to an optimum value.These instructions may, when executed, calculate an attenuation of inputsignals from the microphone array 422 and the attenuation to an optimumvalue. The instructions may, when executed, cause the apparatus 400 todetermine a value of an attenuation of the input signals for one or moresectors and select a sector for which the attenuation is closest to anoptimum value.

The program code 404 may optionally include one or more instructionsthat direct the one or more processors to produce a discrete time domaininput signal x_(m)(t) from the microphones M₀ . . . M_(M), determine alistening sector, and use the listening sector in a semi-blind sourceseparation to select the finite impulse response filter coefficients toseparate out different sound sources from input signal x_(m)(t). Theprogram 404 may also include instructions to apply one or morefractional delays to selected input signals x_(m)(t) other than an inputsignal x₀(t) from a reference microphone M₀. Each fractional delay maybe selected to optimize a signal to noise ratio of a discrete timedomain output signal y(t) from the microphone array. The fractionaldelays may be selected to such that a signal from the referencemicrophone M₀ is first in time relative to signals from the othermicrophone(s) of the array. The program 404 may also includeinstructions to introduce a fractional time delay Δ into an outputsignal y(t) of the microphone array so that:y(t+Δ)=x(t+Δ)*b₀+x(t−1+Δ)*b₁+x(t−2+Δ)*b₂+ . . . +x(t−N+Δ)b_(N), where Δis between zero and ±1.

The program code 404 may optionally include processor executableinstructions including one or more instructions which, when executedcause the image capture unit 423 to monitor a field of view in front ofthe image capture unit 423, identify one or more of the light sources434 within the field of view, detect a change in light emitted from thelight source(s) 434; and in response to detecting the change, triggeringan input command to the processor 401. The use of LEDs in conjunctionwith an image capture device to trigger actions in a game controller isdescribed e.g., in commonly-owned, U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/759,782 to Richard L. Marks, filed Jan. 16, 2004 and entitled: METHODAND APPARATUS FOR LIGHT INPUT DEVICE, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

The program code 404 may optionally include processor executableinstructions including one or more instructions which, when executed,use signals from the inertial sensor and signals generated from theimage capture unit from tracking the one or more light sources as inputsto a game system, e.g., as described above. The program code 404 mayoptionally include processor executable instructions including one ormore instructions which, when executed compensate for drift in theinertial sensor 432.

In addition, the program code 404 may optionally include processorexecutable instructions including one or more instructions which, whenexecuted adjust the gearing and mapping of controller manipulations togame a environment. Such a feature allows a user to change the “gearing”of manipulations of the joystick controller 430 to game state. Forexample, a 45 degree rotation of the joystick controller 430 may begeared to a 45 degree rotation of a game object. However this 1:1gearing ratio may be modified so that an X degree rotation (or tilt oryaw or “manipulation”) of the controller translates to a Y rotation (ortilt or yaw or “manipulation”) of the game object. Gearing may be 1:1ratio, 1:2 ratio, 1:X ratio or X:Y ratio, where X and Y can take onarbitrary values. Additionally, mapping of input channel to game controlmay also be modified over time or instantly. Modifications may comprisechanging gesture trajectory models, modifying the location, scale,threshold of gestures, etc. Such mapping may be programmed, random,tiered, staggered, etc., to provide a user with a dynamic range ofmanipulatives. Modification of the mapping, gearing or ratios can beadjusted by the program code 404 according to game play, game state,through a user modifier button (key pad, etc.) located on the joystickcontroller 430, or broadly in response to the input channel. The inputchannel may include, but may not be limited to elements of user audio,audio generated by controller, tracking audio generated by thecontroller, controller button state, video camera output, controllertelemetry data, including accelerometer data, tilt, yaw, roll, position,acceleration and any other data from sensors capable of tracking a useror the user manipulation of an object.

In certain embodiments the program code 404 may change the mapping orgearing over time from one scheme or ratio to another scheme,respectively, in a predetermined time-dependent manner. Gearing andmapping changes can be applied to a game environment in various ways. Inone example, a video game character may be controlled under one gearingscheme when the character is healthy and as the character's healthdeteriorates the system may gear the controller commands so the user isforced to exacerbate the movements of the controller to gesture commandsto the character. A video game character who becomes disoriented mayforce a change of mapping of the input channel as users, for example,may be required to adjust input to regain control of the character undera new mapping. Mapping schemes that modify the translation of the inputchannel to game commands may also change during gameplay. Thistranslation may occur in various ways in response to game state or inresponse to modifier commands issued under one or more elements of theinput channel. Gearing and mapping may also be configured to influencethe configuration and/or processing of one or more elements of the inputchannel.

In addition, a speaker 436 may be mounted to the joystick controller430. In “acoustic radar” embodiments wherein the program code 404locates and characterizes sounds detected with the microphone array 422,the speaker 436 may provide an audio signal that can be detected by themicrophone array 422 and used by the program code 404 to track theposition of the joystick controller 430. The speaker 436 may also beused to provide an additional “input channel” from the joystickcontroller 430 to the processor 401. Audio signals from the speaker 436may be periodically pulsed to provide a beacon for the acoustic radar totrack location. The audio signals (pulsed or otherwise) may be audibleor ultrasonic. The acoustic radar may track the user manipulation of thejoystick controller 430 and where such manipulation tracking may includeinformation about the position and orientation (e.g., pitch, roll or yawangle) of the joystick controller 430. The pulses may be triggered at anappropriate duty cycle as one skilled in the art is capable of applying.Pulses may be initiated based on a control signal arbitrated from thesystem. The apparatus 400 (through the program code 404) may coordinatethe dispatch of control signals amongst two or more joystick controllers430 coupled to the processor 401 to assure that multiple controllers canbe tracked.

By way of example, embodiments of the present invention may beimplemented on parallel processing systems. Such parallel processingsystems typically include two or more processor elements that areconfigured to execute parts of a program in parallel using separateprocessors. By way of example, and without limitation, FIG. 5illustrates a type of cell processor 500 according to an embodiment ofthe present invention. The cell processor 500 may be used as theprocessor 401 of FIG. 4. In the example depicted in FIG. 5, the cellprocessor 500 includes a main memory 502, power processor element (PPE)504, and a number of synergistic processor elements (SPEs) 506. In theexample depicted in FIG. 5, the cell processor 500 includes a single PPE504 and eight SPE 506. In such a configuration, seven of the SPE 506 maybe used for parallel processing and one may be reserved as a back-up incase one of the other seven fails. A cell processor may alternativelyinclude multiple groups of PPEs (PPE groups) and multiple groups of SPEs(SPE groups). In such a case, hardware resources can be shared betweenunits within a group. However, the SPEs and PPEs must appear to softwareas independent elements. As such, embodiments of the present inventionare not limited to use with the configuration shown in FIG. 5.

The main memory 502 typically includes both general-purpose andnonvolatile storage, as well as special-purpose hardware registers orarrays used for functions such as system configuration, data-transfersynchronization, memory-mapped I/O, and I/O subsystems. In embodimentsof the present invention, a signal processing program 503 may beresident in main memory 502. The signal processing program 503 may runon the PPE. The program 503 may be divided up into multiple signalprocessing tasks that can be executed on the SPEs and/or PPE.

By way of example, the PPE 504 may be a 64-bit PowerPC Processor Unit(PPU) with associated caches L1 and L2. The PPE 504 is a general-purposeprocessing unit, which can access system management resources (such asthe memory-protection tables, for example). Hardware resources may bemapped explicitly to a real address space as seen by the PPE. Therefore,the PPE can address any of these resources directly by using anappropriate effective address value. A primary function of the PPE 504is the management and allocation of tasks for the SPEs 506 in the cellprocessor 500.

Although only a single PPE is shown in FIG. 5, some cell processorimplementations, such as cell broadband engine architecture (CBEA), thecell processor 500 may have multiple PPEs organized into PPE groups, ofwhich there may be more than one. These PPE groups may share access tothe main memory 502. Furthermore the cell processor 500 may include twoor more groups SPEs. The SPE groups may also share access to the mainmemory 502. Such configurations are within the scope of the presentinvention.

Each SPE 506 is includes a synergistic processor unit (SPU) and its ownlocal storage area LS. The local storage LS may include one or moreseparate areas of memory storage, each one associated with a specificSPU. Each SPU may be configured to only execute instructions (includingdata load and data store operations) from within its own associatedlocal storage domain. In such a configuration, data transfers betweenthe local storage LS and elsewhere in a system 500 may be performed byissuing direct memory access (DMA) commands from the memory flowcontroller (MFC) to transfer data to or from the local storage domain(of the individual SPE). The SPUs are less complex computational unitsthan the PPE 504 in that they do not perform any system managementfunctions. The SPU generally have a single instruction, multiple data(SIMD) capability and typically process data and initiate any requireddata transfers (subject to access properties set up by the PPE) in orderto perform their allocated tasks. The purpose of the SPU is to enableapplications that require a higher computational unit density and caneffectively use the provided instruction set. A significant number ofSPEs in a system managed by the PPE 504 allow for cost-effectiveprocessing over a wide range of applications.

Each SPE 506 may include a dedicated memory flow controller (MFC) thatincludes an associated memory management unit that can hold and processmemory-protection and access-permission information. The MFC providesthe primary method for data transfer, protection, and synchronizationbetween main storage of the cell processor and the local storage of anSPE. An MFC command describes the transfer to be performed. Commands fortransferring data are sometimes referred to as MFC direct memory access(DMA) commands (or MFC DMA commands).

Each MFC may support multiple DMA transfers at the same time and canmaintain and process multiple MFC commands. Each MFC DMA data transfercommand request may involve both a local storage address (LSA) and aneffective address (EA). The local storage address may directly addressonly the local storage area of its associated SPE. The effective addressmay have a more general application, e.g., it may be able to referencemain storage, including all the SPE local storage areas, if they arealiased into the real address space.

To facilitate communication between the SPEs 506 and/or between the SPEs506 and the PPE 504, the SPEs 506 and PPE 504 may include signalnotification registers that are tied to signaling events. The PPE 504and SPEs 506 may be coupled by a star topology in which the PPE 504 actsas a router to transmit messages to the SPEs 506. Alternatively, eachSPE 506 and the PPE 504 may have a one-way signal notification registerreferred to as a mailbox. The mailbox can be used by an SPE 506 to hostoperating system (OS) synchronization.

The cell processor 500 may include an input/output (I/O) function 508through which the cell processor 500 may interface with peripheraldevices, such as a microphone array 512 and optional image capture unit513. In addition an Element Interconnect Bus 510 may connect the variouscomponents listed above. Each SPE and the PPE can access the bus 510through a bus interface units BIU. The cell processor 500 may alsoincludes two controllers typically found in a processor: a MemoryInterface Controller MIC that controls the flow of data between the bus510 and the main memory 502, and a Bus Interface Controller BIC, whichcontrols the flow of data between the I/O 508 and the bus 510. Althoughthe requirements for the MIC, BIC, BIUs and bus 510 may vary widely fordifferent implementations, those of skill in the art will be familiartheir functions and circuits for implementing them.

The cell processor 500 may also include an internal interrupt controllerIIC. The IIC component manages the priority of the interrupts presentedto the PPE. The IIC allows interrupts from the other components the cellprocessor 500 to be handled without using a main system interruptcontroller. The IIC may be regarded as a second level controller. Themain system interrupt controller may handle interrupts originatingexternal to the cell processor.

In embodiments of the present invention, certain computations, such asfractional delays, may be performed in parallel using the PPE 504 and/orone or more of the SPE 506. Each fractional delay calculation may be runas one or more separate tasks that different SPE 506 may take as theybecome available.

Some embodiments provide a tracking device for use in obtaininginformation for controlling an execution of a game program by aprocessor for enabling an interactive game to be played by a user. Thetracking device can include a body and at least one PD element. The bodycan further include a section to be oriented towards a screen when aprogress of a game provided via execution of the game apparatus isdisplayed upon the screen. The at least one PD element can additionallybe assembled with the body. A position of the PD element within an imagecan be recordable by an image capture device when the section isoriented at least partly towards the screen. In operation, positions ofthe PD element at different points in time are quantifiable to quantifymovement of the body in space.

Further, the body can be mountable to a game controller. The gamecontroller can include a game controller body and at least one inputdevice assembled with the game controller body. The input device can bemanipulable by a user such that an input from the user can beregistered. In some instances the apparatus includes both the trackingdevice and the game controller.

In some embodiments, the PD element can include a retro-reflector.Additionally or alternatively, the PD element can have a color that hasa high contrast relative to a color of a portion of the body adjacent tothe PD element. Further, each of the at least one PD element can includea pattern that includes at least two different textures. For example,the textures can differ in at least one of brightness, color, roughnessand/or other such relevant textures. In some embodiments, the PD elementincludes a light source, and in some implementations the light sourcecan include at least one LED.

Further, some embodiments include two, three, four or more PD elements.These multiple PD elements can be oriented in one or moreconfigurations. For example, in implementations with two PD elements,the PD elements can be oriented to define a line, and in someimplementations with three PD elements, the elements can be oriented ina triangle. In other implementations having four PD elements, theelements can be arranged or positioned to define four lines. The fourlines can define, for example, a rectangle or other relevantconfiguration.

The PD elements can include light sources and at least one of the lightsources can be distinguishable from the other light sources by acharacteristic relating to the light output by the at least one lightsource. The at least one light source can be distinguishable from theother light sources, for example, by at least one of a strobe frequency,an on-off duty cycle, a timing of an on interval within an on-off cycle,a spectral content of the output of the light source, and/or other suchrelevant distinctions and/or combinations of distinctions. In someembodiments, the body of the tracking device is mountable to the user'sbody.

The tracking devices according to some embodiments can further include acommunications interface that can conduct digital communications with atleast one of the processor, the game controller and/or both theprocessor and the game controller. The communications interface can besubstantially any relevant interface, such as a universal asynchronousreceiver transmitter (“UART”), universal serial bus (“USB”) controller,and/or other such relevant interfaces and/or combinations of interfaces.Typically, the interface is operable to perform at least one ofreceiving a control signal for controlling an operation of the trackingdevice, for transmitting a signal from the tracking device forcommunication with another device, and/or other such communicationfunctionality.

Some embodiments further include a processor operable to execute a gameprogram to display a progress of a game on a screen to enable the gameto be interactively played by a user. The position of one or more PDelements can be recordable by an image capture device located, forexample, in a vicinity of the screen, and the processor can beconfigured to detect the position of the PD element within the imageusing information outputted by the image capture device. Additionally oralternatively, the processor can be operable to detect user inputinformation for controlling execution of the game program from theinformation outputted by the image capture device, to obtain a series ofsamples representative of acceleration of the body in space at differentpoints in time from information outputted by the image capture device,and/or to determine a velocity of the body using the series of samples,for example by integrating acceleration values obtained from the seriesof samples over an interval of time.

The processor can, in some instances, can determine a displacement ofthe body in space by first integrating acceleration values obtained fromthe series of samples over an interval of time and then integrating aresult of the first integrating. Additionally or alternatively, theprocessor can determine a position of the body in space by determiningthe displacement in relation to a previously determined position.

In some instances where the tracking device includes at least two of PDelements, the processor can obtain a series of samples representative ofacceleration of the body in at least two degrees of freedom in spaceusing the information outputted by the image capture device. When thetracking device includes at least three of the PD elements, theprocessor can obtain a series of samples representative of accelerationof the body in at least three degrees of freedom using the informationoutputted by the image capture device. The three degrees of freedom, forexample, can include movement along three orthogonal axes x, y and z,and/or pitch, yaw and roll. In some embodiments, the processor canquantify the movement in six degrees of freedom, which can include, forexample, three degrees of freedom and pitch, yaw and roll.

Further, some embodiments provide a controller. The controller caninclude a body, one or more buttons disposed on the body, and one ormore detectable elements disposed on the body that are arranged in anarray. Additionally in some implementations, the array is a lineararray.

While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means ofspecific embodiments and applications thereof, numerous modificationsand variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention set forth in the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for use in obtaining input for anapplication, comprising: establishing communications with an imagecapture device that is capable of providing first output data thatincludes depth measurements; using the image capture device to captureimages of an object as the object moves in a three-dimensional manner,wherein the object comprises a telephone comprising a hand-heldcomputing and communication device that includes a display screen;receiving the first output data provided by the image capture device asthe image capture device captures images of the object; receivingadditional output data from at least one sensor other than the imagecapture device that can be used to determine at least one of motion andorientation of the object, wherein the at least one sensor other thanthe image capture device does not comprise an image capture device;tracking the three-dimensional movements of the object by mixing thefirst output data provided by the image capture device with theadditional output data provided by the at least one sensor other thanthe image capture device; and causing a visual effect to occur on thedisplay screen of the hand-held computing and communication device ofthe telephone in response to a movement of the object; wherein the imagecapture device comprises a three-dimensional camera that measures adepth of a pixel and determines a distance of the pixel from the camera.2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: changing weights that areapplied to the first output data and the additional output data in themixing.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the object comprises one ormore light sources.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the one or morelight sources are arranged in an arcuate pattern.
 5. The method of claim3, wherein the one or more light sources are arranged in a geometricshape.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the object comprises acontroller.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: generatinginput for the application based on the tracked three-dimensionalmovements of the object.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the trackingthe three-dimensional movements of the object comprises: determiningposition information for the object.
 9. The method of claim 1, whereinthe tracking the three-dimensional movements of the object comprises:determining orientation information for the object.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the tracking the three-dimensional movements of theobject comprises: determining acceleration information for the object.11. The method of claim 1, wherein the tracking the three-dimensionalmovements of the object comprises: determining velocity information forthe object.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein the tracking thethree-dimensional movements of the object comprises: determining atleast one of a tilt, pitch, yaw, and roll for the object.
 13. A computerprogram product comprising a non-transitory medium for embodying acomputer program for input to a computer and a computer program embodiedin the non-transitory medium for causing the computer to perform stepscomprising: establishing communications with an image capture devicethat is capable of providing first output data that includes depthmeasurements; using the image capture device to capture images of anobject as the object moves in a three-dimensional manner, wherein theobject comprises a telephone comprising a hand-held computing andcommunication device that includes a display screen; receiving the firstoutput data provided by the image capture device as the image capturedevice captures images of the object; receiving additional output datafrom at least one sensor other than the image capture device that can beused to determine at least one of motion and orientation of the object,wherein the at least one sensor other than the image capture device doesnot comprise an image capture device; tracking the three-dimensionalmovements of the object by mixing the first output data provided by theimage capture device with the additional output data provided by the atleast one sensor other than the image capture device; and causing avisual effect to occur on the display screen of the hand-held computingand communication device of the telephone in response to a movement ofthe object; wherein the image capture device comprises athree-dimensional camera that measures a depth of a pixel and determinesa distance of the pixel from the camera.
 14. The computer programproduct of claim 13, wherein the computer program further causes thecomputer to perform a step comprising: changing weights that are appliedto the first output data and the additional output data in the mixing.15. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the objectcomprises one or more light sources.
 16. The computer program product ofclaim 15, wherein the one or more light sources are arranged in anarcuate pattern.
 17. The computer program product of claim 15, whereinthe one or more light sources are arranged in a geometric shape.
 18. Thecomputer program product of claim 13, wherein the object comprises acontroller.
 19. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein thecomputer program further causes the computer to perform a stepcomprising: generating input for an application based on the trackedthree-dimensional movements of the object.
 20. The computer programproduct of claim 13, wherein the tracking the three-dimensionalmovements of the object comprises: determining position information forthe object.
 21. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein thetracking the three-dimensional movements of the object comprises:determining orientation information for the object.
 22. The computerprogram product of claim 13, wherein the tracking the three-dimensionalmovements of the object comprises: determining acceleration informationfor the object.
 23. The computer program product of claim 13, whereinthe tracking the three-dimensional movements of the object comprises:determining velocity information for the object.
 24. The computerprogram product of claim 13, wherein the tracking the three-dimensionalmovements of the object comprises: determining at least one of a tilt,pitch, yaw, and roll for the object.
 25. An apparatus, comprising: animage capture device that is capable of providing first output data thatincludes depth measurements; and a processing system that iscommunicatively coupled to the image capture device, wherein theprocessing system is configured to execute steps comprising using theimage capture device to capture images of an object as the object movesin a three-dimensional manner, receiving the first output data providedby the image capture device as the image capture device captures imagesof the object, receiving additional output data from at least one sensorother than the image capture device that can be used to determine atleast one of motion and orientation of the object, and tracking thethree-dimensional movements of the object by mixing the first outputdata provided by the image capture device with the additional outputdata provided by the at least one sensor other than the image capturedevice; wherein the object comprises a telephone comprising a hand-heldcomputing and communication device that includes a display screen;wherein the processing system is further configured to execute a stepcomprising causing a visual effect to occur on the display screen of thehand-held computing and communication device of the telephone inresponse to a movement of the object; wherein the at least one sensorother than the image capture device does not comprise an image capturedevice; and wherein the image capture device comprises athree-dimensional camera that measures a depth of a pixel and determinesa distance of the pixel from the camera.
 26. The apparatus of claim 25,wherein the processing system is further configured to execute a stepcomprising: changing weights that are applied to the first output dataand the additional output data in the mixing.
 27. The apparatus of claim25, wherein the object comprises one or more light sources.
 28. Theapparatus of claim 27, wherein the one or more light sources arearranged in an arcuate pattern.
 29. The apparatus of claim 27, whereinthe one or more light sources are arranged in a geometric shape.
 30. Theapparatus of claim 25, wherein the object comprises a controller. 31.The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the processing system is furtherconfigured to execute a step comprising: generating input for anapplication based on the tracked three-dimensional movements of theobject.
 32. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the tracking thethree-dimensional movements of the object comprises: determiningposition information for the object.
 33. The apparatus of claim 25,wherein the tracking the three-dimensional movements of the objectcomprises: determining orientation information for the object.
 34. Theapparatus of claim 25, wherein the tracking the three-dimensionalmovements of the object comprises: determining acceleration informationfor the object.
 35. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the tracking thethree-dimensional movements of the object comprises: determiningvelocity information for the object.
 36. The apparatus of claim 25,wherein the tracking the three-dimensional movements of the objectcomprises: determining at least one of a tilt, pitch, yaw, and roll forthe object.